GOP Response (format) subtly pushing secessionist meme?

I don't remember a response from the other side to the SOTU like this since the civil war? Is he channeling Jefferson Davis or something, lol. He is doing better than Jindal, though

But seriously, the 11 day old governor of Virginia giving a response speech in front of a joint-chamber in a former confederate state? What was the capital of the Confederacy again??

Best,
Skunknuts

[edit on 1/27/2010 by skunknuts]

The other side did the same thing for the 8 years that Bush was in office.

It is lame no matter which side does it!

Mod Edit - Removed link to thread of different subject matter.



[edit on 27-1-2010 by elevatedone]

reply to post by YourPopRock


Really, the response was given from a joint-chamber address by a democratic governor? I don't remember that being the standard modus operandi.

I personally think the best response the republicans could have given is to have dropped some real legislation on the table and telling President Obama

Here they are!!!

Other than that it is just another speech that will soon be forgotten.

Originally posted by jam321
I personally think the best response the republicans could have given is to have dropped some real legislation on the table and telling President Obama

Here they are!!!

Other than that it is just another speech that will soon be forgotten.

Yeah, I agree. The response from the other side always seems so shallow. It would have worked really well to do what you said, as Obama stated that if anyone brings an alternate plan, he will consider it. Wasted opportunity, I guess....

I think the next 5 months will be the best chance to pass some quality bipartisan legislation to address many issues.

Many jobs are on the line and both sides are going to have to prove that they are worth reelecting.

Unfortunately, after the election it is back to politics as usual.:shk:

Just read the transcript of the Rep response. More of the same. On some aspects he just parroted what Obama said.

No substance. But, whoever expects to hear anything but rhetoric out of these speeches, is delusional.

The trouble with responses to State of the Union addresses is that they always have to be written before the speechmaker has even heard what the President actually has to say. That, I think, accounts for the "tin ear" quality of the governor's speech and the fact that he did not adequately respond to most of Obama's major points.

I thought packing the room with cheering enthusiasts was probably a good technique to suggest approval and applause. Bobby Jindal's speech last year, if you remember, showed him standing alone in the foyer of his mansion, and was done without live, on-camera response. That speech was a famous flop.

Can't help wondering who the enthusiastic people were in the chamber tonight, but I expect they were all staffers or party leaders and/or contributors to his campaign.

Here is my rebuttal to the GOP response...

Good evening. I'm Bob McDonnell. Eleven days ago I was honored to be sworn in as the 71st governor of Virginia.
I'm standing in the historic House Chamber of Virginia's Capitol, a building designed by Virginia's second governor, Thomas Jefferson.

It's not easy to follow the President of the United States. And my twin 18-year old boys have added to the pressure, by giving me exactly ten minutes to finish before they leave to go watch SportsCenter.

I'm joined by fellow Virginians to share a Republican perspective on how to best address the challenges facing our nation today.

We were encouraged to hear President Obama speak this evening about the need to create jobs.

All Americans should have the opportunity to find and keep meaningful work, and the dignity that comes with it.

Unfortunately Republicans don’t actually agree that people should have the opportunity to find and keep meaningful work. This flies in the face of traditional Republican values of people who already have the means to find work, the rest should join the military and go die fighting in another country.

Many of us here, and many of you watching, have family or friends who have lost their jobs.

1 in 10 American workers is unemployed. That is unacceptable.

Here in Virginia we have faced our highest unemployment rate in more than 25 years, and bringing new jobs and more opportunities to our citizens is the top priority of my administration.

Good government policy should spur economic growth, and strengthen the private sector's ability to create new jobs.

Yes it is, however the problem is that Republicans have no intention of helping the private sector’s ability to create new jobs. This has been apparent this last year as Republicans have tried as hard as they can to stifle any attempt this congress has made to help the private sector create jobs.

We must enact policies that promote entrepreneurship and innovation, so America can better compete with the world.

What government should not do is pile on more taxation, regulation, and litigation that kill jobs and hurt the middle class.

It was Thomas Jefferson who called for "A wise and frugal Government which shall leave men free to regulate their own pursuits of industry ....and shall not take from the mouth of labor the bread it has earned..." He was right.

Thomas Jefferson would be spinning in his grave to listen to Republicans invoke his ideals as what they want for America, Republicans idea of less regulation inspired the downfall of this economy. Wall Street for years went largely unregulated, this lead to Bernie Madoff, AIG, Bear Sterns, and other massive failures. Bernie Madoff loved the idea of lack of regulation, it allowed him to steal billions of dollars from investors.

Today, the federal government is simply trying to do too much.

Last year, we were told that massive new federal spending would create more jobs 'immediately' and hold unemployment below 8%.

In the past year, over three million Americans have lost their jobs, yet the Democratic Congress continues deficit spending, adding to the bureaucracy, and increasing the national debt on our children and grandchildren.

The amount of this debt is on pace to double in five years, and triple in ten. The federal debt is already over $100,000 per household.

Yes and part and parcel to that debt is the TARP bail-out shoved down the American people’s throats by the GOP. The Democrats went along with it in a bipartisan manor, something that the GOP has not reciprocated. We were told that if we did not hand over hundreds of billions of dollars to these failed banks that the recession would be far worse than it has been. We handed over this money with the expectation that these private banks would ease lending and thus fuel the recovery, however banks instead hoarded the money, paid huge bonuses to the same people that caused the failure in our economy and still did not ease lending.

This is simply unsustainable. The President's partial freeze on discretionary spending is a laudable step, but a small one.

The circumstances of our time demand that we reconsider and restore the proper, limited role of government at every level.

Without reform, the excessive growth of government threatens our very liberty and prosperity.

In recent months, the American people have made clear that they want government leaders to listen and act on the issues most important to them.

We want results, not rhetoric. We want cooperation, not partisanship.

There is much common ground.

Republicans are now calling for bipartisanship? Look at the track record for the last year! These people don’t want cooperation, they have tried as hard as they can to stifle anything the Democrats proposed, they even tried to kill an anti gang rape bill. So in this election do you think it should be fair game to ask your GOP representatives to explain how they have helped foster an environment of cooperation and bipartisanship?

Here it is folks, it’s election year, now the GOP will move to the center to try and garner your vote, they will tell you how they have a plan, even though they haven’t offered up any real plan to fix this economy yet, they still want to tell you that they are the party that will help the American people by getting out of the way. The government getting out of the way of wall street caused this recession.

All Americans agree, we need a health care system that is affordable, accessible, and high quality.

But most Americans do not want to turn over the best medical care system in the world to the federal government.

Republicans in Congress have offered legislation to reform healthcare, without shifting Medicaid costs to the states, without cutting Medicare, and without raising your taxes.

We will do that by implementing common sense reforms, like letting families and businesses buy health insurance policies across state lines, and ending frivolous lawsuits against doctors and hospitals that drive up the cost of your healthcare.

This is BS, Republicans believe that if you can’t afford health insurance, you aren’t a valuable member of society and should die. Now their plan is to let loose insurance companies all over the nation to steal your money, and deny you coverage based on pre existing conditions. (Notice that he does not mention that part.) Denying you coverage because you have a pre existing condition is right up the GOP conservative alley.

And what exactly is a frivolous lawsuit? Is this the lawsuit when a doctor or hospital negligently debilitates you for life because of their own error? I suppose the GOP plan for people who are injured in this way is to die off quickly so they aren’t a blight on society. After all, the GOP doesn’t want anyone in this country that is a drain on the taxpayer. You of course aren’t too big to fail and you should have every opportunity to fail and die. But no, can’t sue the doctor who through their negligence crippled you, because the doctor is too big to fail, that doctor is better than you because that doctor has better education than you.

And our solutions aren't thousand-page bills that no one has fully read, after being crafted behind closed doors with special interests.

In fact, many of our proposals are available online at solutions.gop.gov, and we welcome your ideas on Facebook and Twitter.

This whiney crap again? Shesh oh Pete, listen, the GOP isn’t for transparency, the Bush administration showed that. But they are for another form of transparency, you. They want you to be transparent, they want to be able to listen in on your cell phone calls without a warrant, they want to be able to know everything about you at any time, but that’s for national security, and that is ok to the GOP.

All Americans agree, this nation must become more energy independent and secure.

We are blessed here in America with vast natural resources, and we must use them all.

Advances in technology can unleash more natural gas, nuclear, wind, coal, and alternative energy to lower your utility bills.

Here in Virginia, we have the opportunity to be the first state on the East Coast to explore for and produce oil and natural gas offshore.

But this Administration's policies are delaying offshore production, hindering nuclear energy expansion, and seeking to impose job-killing cap and trade energy taxes.

Now is the time to adopt innovative energy policies that create jobs and lower energy prices.

Yes of course, oil production, that’s helpful. Let’s see, how many jobs will allowing drilling offshore (which by the way infringes on states individual rights to govern themselves.) will create. It’s funny, the GOP want to drill baby drill, except that will of course cut into the profitability for major oil companies. See if supply out-paces demand, they will have to cut price, well that isn’t going to happen any time soon.

And if you clear away the environmental regulations so that companies can drill offshore, they will go in when they want, not because they want more supply, they will go in after they get done with the supply they have. This doesn’t create jobs, it only expands executive profits. That’s the GOP way.

Of course if they get rid of all those job killing regulations, then if the oil companies have a spill and that decimates fishing in an area, well those fishermen aren’t too big to fail, so it’s ok that they are put out of a job, if they could afford better education they wouldn’t be fishermen now would they?

All Americans agree, that a young person needs a world-class education to compete in the global economy. As a kid my dad told me, "Son, to get a good job, you need a good education." That's even more true today.

Continued next post...

Continued from previous post...

We applaud President Obama's decision to deploy 30,000 more troops to Afghanistan. We agree that victory there is a national security imperative. But we have serious concerns over recent steps the Administration has taken regarding suspected terrorists.

The GOP loves the military, they love them so much they want to increase spending on the military indefinitely. Because that is where poor people belong. They believe that if you don’t already have the means in which to better yourself through a proper education, than your only benefit to the USA is through military service.

Americans were shocked on Christmas Day to learn of the attempted bombing of a flight to Detroit. This foreign terror suspect was given the same legal rights as a U.S. citizen, and immediately stopped providing critical intelligence.

As Senator-elect Scott Brown says, we should be spending taxpayer dollars to defeat terrorists, not to protect them.

Here is where the GOP and Osama Bin Laden agree. The GOP is willing to break the bank going after terrorists with poor people. This accomplishes two things, it gives the American people someone to fear, which let’s a GOP government erode our liberties through illegal wire tapping, through “enhanced interrogation techniques” (don’t think for a moment that the GOP wouldn’t love to use this on civilians inside the US.) Remember, if you’re poor, to the GOP you are sub human and deserve whatever you get, if you break the law they don’t want you to have any civil liberties, and so to the GOP you should be tortured.

Here at home government must help foster a society in which all our people can use their God-given talents in liberty to pursue the American Dream. Republicans know that government cannot guarantee individual outcomes, but we strongly believe that it must guarantee equality of opportunity for all.

That opportunity exists best in a democracy which promotes free enterprise, economic growth, strong families, and individual achievement.

Ya know, the GOP shouldn’t be talking about Family Values anymore, their track record on Family Values is quite suspect. To the GOP the only people that deserve the American Dream are people that can afford it. They don’t want the poor to better themselves, they only want the rich to better themselves, the poor to the GOP should just die and stop wasting space for those that are better people because they are richer people.

Many Americans are concerned about this Administration's efforts to exert greater control over car companies, banks, energy and health care.

Over-regulating employers won't create more employment; overtaxing investors won't foster more investment.

Top-down one-size fits all decision making should not replace the personal choices of free people in a free market, nor undermine the proper role of state and local governments in our system of federalism. As our Founders clearly stated, and we Governors understand, government closest to the people governs best.

Let’s get one thing straight, the car companies, and the banks asked for bail-outs. It’s not like the government decided to swoop in and demand to take these entities over. As far as Health Care goes, the American People wanted health care reforms, unfortunately, the Government listened instead to special interest groups and catered to their every whim.

And no government program can replace the actions of caring Americans freely choosing to help one another. The Scriptures say "To whom much is given, much will be required." As the most generous and prosperous nation on Earth, it is heartwarming to see Americans giving much time and money to the people of Haiti. Thank you for your ongoing compassion.

Unless you’re the kind of Republican that believes Rush Limbaugh, and thinks that this only will help Obama get black people’s votes.

Some people are afraid that America is no longer the great land of promise that she has always been. They should not be.

America will always blaze the trail of opportunity and prosperity.

Should ad an asterisk to this, if you can afford it.

America must always be a land where liberty and property are valued and respected, and innocent human life is protected.

Nice pro life plug there at the end don’t you think? “We want the government out of your life, except if you are a pregnant woman, then the government should tell you what to do.”

Government should have this clear goal: Where opportunity is absent, we must create it. Where opportunity is limited, we must expand it. Where opportunity is unequal, we must make it open to everyone.

Our Founders pledged their lives, their fortunes and their sacred honor to create this nation.

Now, we should pledge as Democrats, Republicans and Independents--Americans all---to work together to leave this nation a better place than we found it.

God Bless you, and God Bless our great nation.

The GOP have no plan to fix this economy, they have no intention of being bipartisan, they just want to make the rich richer, and the poor poorer.

To the GOP, if you are poor, you are lazy and worthless, if you don’t join the military and fight endless wars you are unpatriotic, if you don’t believe in their god you are a terrorist, and if you don’t want a baby, you are a murderer.